Ethan Elkind in the news:

“Facilitating access to energy and market data—which can now be anonymized and aggregated without compromising customer privacy—can enable a host of more efficient and cleaner energy solutions, while also making it more economical for California to reach Gov. Brown’s climate change goals.”

But now, the phrase “China’s not doing anything” is off the table, says Ethan Elkind. … “The fact that China has committed to this puts the whole global effort [toward emissions reduction] into a new gear.”

“The way the rail system starts is that first you have to have the political maneuverings to get the funding, and, in the case of Los Angeles, you have an enormous county. … You have to develop a program that is going to meet the needs of that enormous constituency.”

“Having this inexpensive energy storage available to people can really be a game-changer in terms of cleaning up our electricity supply and also generating a lot of jobs, potentially here in California. … There’s a lot of money at stake here, and a lot of environmental good to be done.”

“The bill directs the California air resources board … to come up with a financing plan, basically looking at the market for electric vehicles going forward, knowing that the state has a goal of about 1.5 million electric vehicles on the road by 2025.”

“Most batteries will retain much of their capacity and value after the use of the car,” said report author Ethan Elkind. “As a result, repurposing them can absorb excess renewable energy and dispatch it when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.”

“California is perfectly positioned to be the leader in the country, if not the world,” Elkind said. About 40 percent of the nation’s electric vehicles are in California. The state just passed 100,000 registered plug-in EVs. There’s a need for storage because of the growing amount of renewable power, and utilities must comply with the storage mandate, he said.

While Californians will eventually benefit from Tesla’s success with the Nevada gigafactory, we shouldn’t grow complacent about the possibilities here. The opportunities from repurposed batteries are simply too important for both our economic and environmental bottom line.

“Things are getting pretty dire. Especially when the ice sheets melt, that’s going to mean sea level rise all across the world and, of course, in San Francisco and the Bay Area in general, if not all across California and beyond. That’s going to make major impacts, especially on infrastructure like the port. We have to worry about things like our airports, the delta, as well as coastal ground water resources.”

“We’re told relief is on the way, from new rapid-bus and rail-transit lines to high-speed rail. But unless ‘decades from now’ is your idea of right around the corner, Californians have to exercise extreme patience waiting through the interminable planning and construction processes associated with major new transit projects.”

“[The bill] could actually have a very positive effect if we focused on low-income communities because they’re the ones who potentially could stand to gain the most economically in terms of fuel savings, if they switched from a fossil fuel-based car to an electric vehicle. It really depends on how it’s structured, though.”

Elkind urges Southern California commuters to demand answers about slow transit projects from public agencies and public officials…. Elkind also favors lowering the threshold for voter initiatives that fund transit projects, from two-thirds to 55 percent.

While we want to ensure careful transit planning with proper community input, safety and cost-effectiveness, the multiyear processes are unnecessary and counterproductive. We must accelerate high-priority transit projects, which are vital for our economic competitiveness, quality of life, and environment.

Here are three analyses worth a serious read…an analysis by law school teams from UCLA and Berkeley, which concentrated on the project’s effects in the poorest and most polluted part of the state, the central San Joaquin Valley.

“These are tried and true technologies. Solar panels have been around for decades, and there is a lot of environmental analysis done on solar installations everywhere. The notion that solar panels are dangerous has been looked at, and was sort of put to bed decades ago.”

Ethan N. Elkind, author of “Railtown,” which chronicles the push for a modern rail system in Los Angeles, said in an interview that a connection would be unlikely to transform the way Angelenos travel to the airport. “It would be more of a psychological victory, a way to reshape the image of Los Angeles,” said Mr. Elkind.

There was a push in the ‘90s that got some of the first versions of electric vehicles on the road. But, more recently, it has a lot to do with California policies. California has been a leader in air quality issues in general, but has also made zero-emissions vehicles a priority.

But money alone cannot ensure success, notes Ethan Elkind, the author of Railtown, a history of Los Angeles’s troubled transit past. “Despite the multibillion-dollar investment, it took specific policies to make development happen,” Elkind says. “You can’t just build the line and assume people will come.”

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